The present invention relates to a device for positioning an integrated circuit wafer, in particular with a view to the inspection of said integrated circuit wafer in an inspection equipment. It also relates to an equipment for inspecting an integrated circuit wafer, such as for example an optical profilometry equipment, comprising such a device.
The field of the invention is more particularly, but non-limitatively, that of inspection equipment for the microelectronics and integrated optics industry.
Electronic or optical integrated circuits are generally produced in the form of integrated circuit wafers.
An integrated circuit wafer can comprise a wafer, which is a slice or wafer of semi-conductor and/or dielectric material on the surface of which patterns and elements of integrated circuits are produced, in particular by deposition or etching operations.
An integrated circuit wafer can also comprise, according to the manufacturing steps, for example,                wafer elements, or cut wafer parts, arranged on a support such as another wafer or a film:        integrated circuit stacks produced beforehand; or        composite structures with integrated circuits and connecting elements in a common matrix.        
During the manufacturing steps, it is often necessary to inspect one or more surfaces of the integrated circuit wafer with a view for example to characterizing or validating the patterns produced on said surface, monitoring the thickness of the wafer, etc. In particular, it may be necessary to determine if trenches or marks produced on one face of the wafer have the desired characteristics, in terms of depth or in terms of height. Such an inspection can for example be carried out by an optical profilometry device. It may also be necessary to inspect the surface of a wafer for other reasons with other types of device.
Taking account of the very small dimensions of the patterns present on the surface of a wafer, it is necessary to position the wafer very precisely, and very near to the sensor or sensors used for the inspection. In addition, when it is desired to inspect different zones of the surface area, or even the entire surface area of the wafer, it is also necessary to move the wafer quickly with respect to the sensors.
Now, the devices for positioning integrated circuit wafers currently in use do not allow these requirements to be met.
A purpose of the invention is to overcome this drawback.
Another purpose of the present invention is to propose a device for positioning an integrated circuit wafer having a simple architecture and allowing rapid and accurate positioning of said wafer.
Yet another purpose of the present invention is to propose a wafer positioning device having a simple architecture while allowing simultaneous inspection of both faces of the wafer.